The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1887-08-20
JESUS AND THE LAW.
EXPLANATORY NOTES BY REV. r.
s. M'ARTHUR, D. D.

v. Ia. Think Not.-Many in the great
crowd present evidently expected that Christ
would abrogate portions Of the law and in
troduce revolutionary changes. The knowl-
edge of the disciples was imperfect, and they
mny have thought that he was speaking in
opposition to the teachings Of Moses. Now is
the time for him to correct these false notions
and TO declare fully the principles Of the new
kingdom. l am come-or came. This form
OF expression is common to our Lord it i'm.
plies his pre-existence and suggests his COM
ing for a definite purpose. To Destroy
When applied to material things this word
means to loose, to pull down, to dissolve. 1t
isso applied to the temple Matt XVI, GU, and
In III Cor. v, !, to the dissolution Of the body
under the figure Of building. Here it
means 10 set aside, as If the law were super
seded, as null and void. This was not Christ's
purpose. Inc law and the prophets -This
form OF expression takes in all the Scriptures
OF the Old Testament The five books of
Moses are spoken Of as the law; the other
Scriptures as the prophets Sometimes the
Psalms were added. All his hearers under
stood the reference Of these terms. Fulfill
To make full, to complete. Christ came, not
to contradict, but to complete the law. Law
s."N S'SIc', iiHutig uIueIStOol, are one.
Jesus carried the teachings of Moses to their
rightful conclusion; he lifted them to IA higher
plane-to the inward thought as well as the
outward act. He makes hatred murder, and
certain look crime. He fulfilled the law
by keeping it fully, by suffering as our SUBJ
Situte its penalty, and by accomplishing in
his own life all its requirements.
V. Is. For verily.-Verily in Greek is
n I'D
firm, reliable, faithful. true. Till heaven
and earth,-Ths is a proverbial expires.
sion, and is probably equivalent to never.
Jot-The translation of the Greek letter
iota. 1t represents the Hebrew letter ycdh,
and corresponds to the English l. Title
Strictly speaking, this word means "little
horn" the small point at the edge of
some Hebrew letters to distinguish them from
Others. With us the word title means any
thing very small. So it is here used. AS
has been often said, the expression is equiva-
lent to the not dotting of an or the crossing
of t. Fulflled.-That is, come to pass
V. 10. This is solemn and also an en-
couraging verse for Sunday school teachers
Because God designs the law 10 stand intact
therefore to break, and especially to teach
others to break, one OF its least command
ments, its jot or little Just named, is a great
sin. Shall be called.-Shall be and also shall
be called, /. e., be recognized, be considered as
such. There are differences of attainment in
the Christian life here and hereafter Those
who follow Christ's precepts partially NAV
be saved; if they build on him as the founda-
ton they will be saved; but it may be as by
fire, while the hay and the stubble will be
burned. Those who follow his precepts fully
shall have an abundant entrance into the
Kingdom.
" ~ The connection here is plain. That
the men who break the least commandments
shall have lower place is certain; for, unless
man have Righteousness in advance of that
or the scrlbes and Pharisees he shall not
enter heaven at all. Righteousness. This
means personal rectitude, right doing. Shall
in no case.-By no means, not at all. 1t is an
intensive formula and represents the double
negative in Greek, which, according to the
idiom, emphasizes the negation
V. 81. The great Teacher now goes into the
exposition of the spirit of the law in opposi |
ton to the Interpretation given by the Phar.
sees, with which the people were familiar |
There are In all six examples cited. Ye have
heard.-Strictly, simply heard. Such state |
ments they had often heard in the public ex- |
positions of the law. By them of old time |
This expression is the rendering of two Greek |
words; more literally, to them Of old, or to |
the ancients These expounders emphasize |
the letter of the law; Christ exalts its spirit. |
Judgment.-This is the lower court which |
was every city (Deut. xvi, 49,, and had the |
power Of putting to death with the sword.
according to Josephus 1t consisted Of seven
persons
v %. Here Christ speaks with great au.
thority. SAY unto you. HE is an authority
unto himself. The author of the law is the
best expounder Of the law. He sweeps past
the outward act to the inward motive Hatred
is murder Il John iii, l5). Now comes the ex-
PLANTATION of the three degrees of anger, with
their corresponding punshments. With his
brother.-The words without cause" are
emitted in many manuscripts and in the Re-
vised Version. Raca.-This is an Aramaic
word. 1t expresses supreme contempt il |
equivalent to a worthless fellow, good for
nothing, an empty head, a blockhead Coun-
cii.-This is the Sanhedrin, the highest, the
supreme court Of the Jews. Fool. This verse
and these epithets have troubled many. The
punishment seems greater than the sin would
warrant; but We must remember that the sin
lies in the spirit which prompts the words
He'll re.-This word is, literally, the Gehenna
Of fire. The word Gehenna is made up of
two Hebrew words, meaning the VALLEY of
Hinnom." This was situated south of Jerusa-
lem; in one part of it children were at one
time sacrificed to Moloch, into whose fiery
arms they were cast. They were then
dropped by a mechanical continuance into
the fierce tires in the interior of the
horrible image. The place was also called
Tophet, a name derived, some say, from Toph.
a drum, because drums were vigorously
<beaten to drown the cries of the suffering
children. There is another derivation, how
ever, for the word. Josiah, the last good
king of Judah, as we see from ii Kings, xiii,
10. defled this place by making it the repos.
itory of the offal Of the city. In later times
it became the place where the bodies of noto-
rious criminals were burned. Then it came
to represent the place of punishment of the
wicked isaiah Xxx, S3). In the New Testa-
ment it is found frequently and used in this
sense Christ empha sizes it as place of tor
ment. 1t has been suggested by several COM
mentators that there is climax in the grades
Of anger and so in the degrees of punish
ment: l, angry thoughts; ., angry words;
4 cCu6amp op;thofc 80 in tba ,~,,n;sl |